The government is expanding the ‘Sunlight Income Village’ nationwide, which aims to achieve energy independence and increase residents’ income through community-led solar power generation. On the 16th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety reported the ‘Sunlight Income Village Nationwide Expansion Plan’ prepared with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Climate and Energy Environment at the Cabinet meeting and announced that comprehensive support at the pan-government level would be fully promoted.
‘Sunlight Income Village’ is a business model where the community installs and operates solar power plants on idle land, farmland, and reservoirs to achieve energy independence and share the profits with residents. A representative example is the ‘Sunlight Cooperative Power Generation Cooperative’ in Gwangyang-ri, Sejongdaewang-myeon, Yeoju-si, Gyeonggi-do, where residents installed solar power plants on village warehouses and parking lots, using the profits to provide free lunches and operate village buses, thereby achieving community recovery and carbon reduction.
To spread these excellent cases nationwide, the government plans to supplement the limitations of the village solar support projects that have been promoted by each ministry and establish a systematic support system at the pan-government level. To this end, a pan-government promotion organization called the ‘(tentative) Sunlight Income Village Promotion Team’ will be established under the Minister of the Interior and Safety. The promotion team will involve related ministries, local governments, and public institutions such as the Korea Rural Community Corporation, Korea Water Resources Corporation, Korea Electric Power Corporation, and Korea Energy Agency to plan and coordinate projects, designate and evaluate Sunlight Income Villages, and provide overall support.
The government will provide integrated support for key elements of project implementation, such as power grid connection, site acquisition, and financial support, centered on the promotion team. To resolve the power grid issue, which has been a major obstacle to solar projects, the government will promote the revision of related laws to allow priority connection to the grid for Sunlight Income Villages. Additionally, to secure sites, the government will actively discover idle lands such as village halls and parking lots, as well as reserve farmlands of the Korea Rural Community Corporation, reservoirs, riverbeds, and dam surfaces of the Korea Water Resources Corporation, and support the use and lease of national and public properties, and reduce usage and lease fees.